from Hacker News

I unschool my 5 kids. This is how much it costs

by rosiesherry on 3/22/23, 6:37 PM with 54 comments

• by reacharavindh on 3/22/23, 8:36 PM

  > The important thing to remember here is that our kids have opted in for all these activities. We only do what they are interested in. And this is what makes unschooling beautiful.

  This is the part that’s scary due to selective bias. I had no clue whatsoever about most things I learnt in school until I uhmm learned them.

  If I were given a choice whether to spend hours learning integral calculus or partial differential equations, I’d have most certainly said no! But, at the end of it I realised they were the foundations for something greater - projectile calculations with integral calculus.

  Education teaches one to think. Some level of wild walks in the subject is necessary in my opinion.

• by newaccount74 on 3/22/23, 8:08 PM

  I have a lot of respect for people who manage to educate their kids themselves.

  I couldn't do it. My kids don't listen to me when I try to explain something, but they do listen to their teachers in school.

  I'm happy I don't have to spend all day with my kids. I love them a lot, and I think I'm doing a decent job as a parent, but I think input from other people is also worth a lot -- especially from people who went to university to become teachers.

• by cathdrlbizzare on 3/22/23, 11:23 PM

  My main concern is whether the homeschooled kids are disadvantaged by the lack of the vital social component of school.

  I’ve met a number of homeschooled kids but they always seem to have limited socialization opportunities.

• by piyh on 3/22/23, 9:59 PM

  Did the fundies ruin the word homeschool so much that it's called unschooling now?

• by Melingo on 3/23/23, 7:35 PM

  I saw a fun docu in Germany afrom such families.

  The boy in the group just played games.

  Non of them wanted to use the music instruments the parents bought.

• by pratikshadake on 3/23/23, 8:42 AM

  All that is fine, but why would anyone in their sane mind have 5 freaking children? Why are Americans obsessed with having such big families? Do you keep spare kids for ghosts to haunt? (like they show in all horror movies)

  In India, we call decision of having more than 2 kids insane & cost even though raising a child in India is much lesser.

  What am I missing? It's a big cultural shock.

• by owenpalmer on 3/22/23, 8:09 PM

  Is there anything you think they should learn about even if they don't find it interesting?

• by theonething on 3/23/23, 4:41 AM

  > sometimes drool at private schools

  What do you find attractive about private schools vs public?